Former selector of the Indian team, Krishnamachari Shrikant, strongly criticized India's head coach Gautam Gambhir regarding the decision to drop 15-year-old batsman Vaibha Suryawanshi from the squad after three unsuccessful matches.
Former selector of the Indian team, Krishnamachari Shrikant, strongly criticized India's head coach Gautam Gambhir regarding the decision to drop 15-year-old batsman Vaibha Suryawanshi from the squad after three unsuccessful matches.
Shrikant expressed his opinion that such a decision negatively affected the young player's confidence. He stated on his YouTube channel: 'Vaibha is an exceptional talent. Why did Gautam Gambhir drop him after only three matches? It undermined his confidence.'
At the beginning of the T20 series against England, Vaibha Suryawanshi's performance did not meet expectations. In the first three international T20 matches, he scored 14, 13, and 15 runs, respectively. After this, he was dropped from the squad for the fifth T20 match.
Nevertheless, Vaibha showed a strong comeback in the first T20 against Zimbabwe on July 23, scoring 50 runs in just 19 balls. In this innings, he hit 4 fours and 4 sixes, enabling India to easily reach the target of 127 runs. Thanks to this half-century performance, Vaibha became the youngest batsman to score a fifty in T20Is internationally.
Shrikant also revealed that after the tour in England, Vaibha did not go home but went directly to the Rajasthan Royals camp. There, he worked diligently on his short-ball game. Shrikant highly praised his perseverance and bold play. He added: 'I admire Vaibha's dedication and commitment. After the series in England concluded, he did not go home but went straight to the Rajasthan Royals camp. There he focused on intensive work on his short-ball shot because he wants to prove to the world that he is a very special player.'
The Indian team set a historic record by winning the 2026 T20 World Cup title, becoming the first team in the world to win this tournament back-to-back. The trophy was won by Rohit Sharma in 2024, and by Suryakumar Yadav in 2026. Sanju Samson was the main hero of this victory.
Before the 2026 T20 World Cup, the team played a five-match series against New Zealand, in which vice-captain Sanju Samson had an unsuccessful performance. Despite this, he was included in the team for the World Cup. Although he was not given a chance in the first matches, when he returned to the game, he attracted everyone's attention with an impressive performance.
After Sanju did not make the starting XI at the beginning of the tournament, former Indian captain Rohit Sharma encouraged him, assuring him that his time would surely come. However, Samson admitted in an interview with JioStar that he initially did not believe Rohit Sharma's words. He noted that while Rohit might have spoken from experience or from the heart, at that moment he did not see what Rohit saw, and his disappointment was evident on his face.
Samson felt regret about not being in the team after the series against New Zealand. He reported that he needed at least a week to recover from the serious shock. During the first four or five days of the World Cup, he experienced significant mental difficulties. Nevertheless, this failure gave him an opportunity to think about himself, asking questions about why he started playing cricket and what his goal was.
In the virtual quarter-final of the T20 World Cup against West India, Sanju Samson demonstrated a decisive game for the team. Usually aggressive after the powerplay, he managed to understand the flow of the match that day. Seeing batsmen constantly falling on the other side, he adjusted his tactics. Samson emphasized that cricket is the greatest teacher, and in that match, he realized that the game itself suggests what needs to be done when he was trying to hit powerful shots, while wickets were falling on the other side.
After an incredible innings of 97 runs without getting out in 50 balls, Samson's celebration photos went viral. Commenting on this, he explained that he is a very religious person. He noted that some of his shots surprised even himself. In Samson's opinion, this celebration was not a display of pride in the victory, but an expression of gratitude, as he was merely a means that could help the team.
